Linguistics and communication
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Keith Allan
Keith Allan MLitt, PhD (Edinburgh), FAHA. Emeritus Professor, Monash University and Honorary professor at University of Queensland. Research interests focus mainly on aspects of meaning in language, with a secondary interest in the history and philosophy of linguistics. He has published on the topics of censorship, discourse analysis, dysphemism, euphemism, grammaticalization, jargon, language policy, linguistic metatheory, morphology, politeness, pragmatics, prosody, psycholinguistics, semantics, sociolinguistics, speech act theory, syntax, and taboo. Homepage:http://users.monash.edu.au/∼kallan/homepage.html .
Abstract
This essay begins by identifying what communication is and what linguistics is in order to establish the relationship between them. The characterization of linguistics leads to discussion of the nature of language and of the relationship between a theory of language, i. e., linguistic theory, and the object language it models. This, in turn, leads to a review of speculations on the origins of human language with a view to identifying the motivation for its creation and its primary function. After considering a host of data, it becomes clear that, contrary to some approaches, the primary function of human language is to function as a vehicle of communication. Thus, linguistics studies what for humans is their primary vehicle of communication.
About the author
Keith Allan MLitt, PhD (Edinburgh), FAHA. Emeritus Professor, Monash University and Honorary professor at University of Queensland. Research interests focus mainly on aspects of meaning in language, with a secondary interest in the history and philosophy of linguistics. He has published on the topics of censorship, discourse analysis, dysphemism, euphemism, grammaticalization, jargon, language policy, linguistic metatheory, morphology, politeness, pragmatics, prosody, psycholinguistics, semantics, sociolinguistics, speech act theory, syntax, and taboo. Homepage: http://users.monash.edu.au/∼kallan/homepage.html.
Acknowledgments
I have benefitted greatly from the comments of several friends on earlier versions of this essay. I should like to thank Barry Blake, Mike Balint, Alessandro Capone, Pedro Chamizo, Adam Głaz, Istvan Kecskes, Finex Ndhlovu, Mohammad Salmani Nodoushan, and Roberto Sileo, for their helpful comments. I did not always take their advice, so all remaining infelicities are mine alone.
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